Republic of the Philippines

SUPREME COURT
Manila
EN BANC
G.R. No. L-31346 December 28, 1929
PO SUN TUN, plaintif-appellant,
vs.
W. S. PRCE !"# T$E PRO%NC&L GO%ERNMENT O' LE(TE, defendants-appellees.
Vicente Sotto for appellant.
Kapunan and Kapunan for appellee Price.
Attorney-General Jaranilla for the Provincial Government of Leyte.

M&LCOLM, J.:
The undisputed facts in this case are the folloin!"
#n Nove$ber %&, '&%', (abino Barreto P. Po E)ap as the oner of a certain parcel of land situated in the $unicipalit*
of Tacloban, Province of +e*te. #n the date $entioned, he sold the land to Po Tecsi for the su$ of P,,---. #n .une %',
'&%/, Po $ort!a!ed the land to 0. 1. Price in the a$ount of P'2,---. The $ort!a!e as dul* noted in the o3ce of the
re!ister of deeds of +e*te on Au!ust ',th of the sa$e *ear. #n 4ece$ber '2, '&%5, Po e6ecuted a deed of sale of the
land to Price in consideration of P'2,---. This sale as recorded ith the re!ister of deeds on .anuar* %%, '&%7. Price
in turn, ith the consent of his ife, sold the land on 8ebruar* '9, '&%2, to the Province of +e*te for P%-,72-.
:n connection ith the above facts, it should further be stated that hen the Tacloban Cadastral Case as before the
courts in '&',, this land as clai$ed b* (abino Barreto P. Po E)ap actin! throu!h his a!ent, Po Tecsi, but subse;uentl*
on $otion the na$es of Mr. and Mrs. Price ere substituted as clai$ants. #n March '2, '&%2, the ori!inal certi<cate of
title as issued in the na$e of the spouses Price. +ater, the proper transfer certi<cate of title as provided for the
Province of +e*te.
Returnin! a!ain to the ori!inal date of Nove$ber %&, '&%', on that date Po Tecsi !ave a !eneral poer of attorne*
includin! the ri!ht to sell to (abino Barreto P. Po E)ap. Actin! under this poer, (abino sold the land on Nove$ber %%,
'&%/, for P,,--- to .ose =. >ati!ba?. #n this docu$ent there appears on the upper ri!ht-hand $ar!in the folloin!"
@Re!ister of 4eeds, Received, 4ec. '7, '&%/, Province of +e*te.@ :n turn .ose =. >ati!ba? transferred the propert* to Po
1un Tun on #ctober '%, '&%2, for P,,---.
8urther e6plainin! the relationship of the parties, it should be ta?en into consideration that (abino Barreto P. Po E)ap
and Po Tecsi, beteen ho$ as the ori!inal transaction and beteen ho$ as the provision $ade for the poer of
attorne*, are brothers. (abino Barreto P. Po E)ap and Po 1un Tun, the <rst the ori!inal vendor, and the latter the person
to ho$ the propert* eventuall* returned pursuant to the poer of attorne*, are father and son. As to the possession
of the propert*, it has been under the control of Price and the Provincial (overn$ent of +e*te and has not been under
the $aterial control of Po 1un Tun.
Predicated on these facts, Po 1un Tun be!an an action in the Court of 8irst :nstance of +e*te to !ain the possession of
the propert* and to secure da$a!es in the a$ount of P/,9--. .ud!e Causin! sittin! in <rst instance decided the case
on the pleadin!s and the evidence, absolvin! the defendants 0. 1. Prince and the Province of +e*te fro$ the
co$plaint, ith costs a!ainst the plaintif. The principal error assi!ned on appeal b* the plaintif in connection ith this
)ud!$ent is that the trial )ud!e erred in <ndin! that the deed, E6hibit 4, in favor of .ose =. >ati!ba? had not been
re!istered in the correspondin! re!istr* of propert*.
The provision of la relied upon b* the trial )ud!e as authorit* for his decision as the second para!raph of article
'52/ of the Civil Code, hich provides that if the sa$e thin! should have been sold to diferent vendees, @1i fuere
in$ueble, la propiedad pertenecera al ad;uirente ;ue antes la ha*a inscrito en el Re!istro,@ or, as translated b* 8isher,
@1hould it be real propert*, it shall belon! to the purchaser ho <rst recorded it in the Re!istr* of 4eeds.@ Recallin!
that the deed of Po Tecsi to Price as dul* re!istered on .anuar* %%, '&%7, and that thereafter a Torrens title as
obtained in the na$e of Price, and that the deed of (abino Barreto P. Po E)ap to .ose =. >ati!ba? has noted on it
@Re!ister of 4eeds, Received, 4ec. '7, '&%/, Province of +e*te,@ can it be said that ithin the $eanin! of the la this
latter deed as ever recordedA
0e are clearl* of the opinion that it as not. The la and the authorities are overhel$in!l* de$onstrative of this
state$ent. The $ere presentation to the o3ce of the re!ister of deeds of a docu$ent on hich ac?noled!$ent of
receipt is ritten is not e;uivalent to recordin! or re!isterin! the real propert*. Escriche sa*s that re!istration, in its
)uridical aspect, $ust be understood as the entr* $ade in a boo? or public re!istr* of deeds. B1ee Altavas, +and
Re!istration in the Philippine :slands, %d ed., p. '7'.C 1oler and Castello in theirDiccionario de Legislacion ipotecaria y
!otarial, vol. ::, p. ',7, state"
Re!istration in !eneral, as the la uses the ord, $eans an* entr* $ade in the boo?s of the Re!istr*,
includin! both re!istration in its ordinar* and strict sense, and cancellation, annotation, and even the $ar!inal
notes. :n its stric? acceptation, it is the entr* $ade in the Re!istr* hich records sole$nl* and per$anentl*
the ri!ht of onership and other real ri!hts.
The A$erican authorities confor$ in this respect to the 1panish authorities for the ter$ @To re!ister@ it has been said
that it $eans to @enter in a re!isterD to record for$all* and distinctl*D to enrollD to enter in a list@ BRec? vs.Phoeni6 :ns.
Co. E',,&F, 2 N. G. 1uppl., 5&%D 75 =un., 9/2D =arri$an vs. 0oburn Electric +i!ht Co. E',&7F, '9/ Mass., ,7C. :f an*
doubt re$ained on the sub)ect, it ould be dispelled b* turnin! to Act No. %,/2 a$endator* of section '&5 of the
Ad$inistrative Code, and recallin! that it is therein provided that @No instru$ent or deed establishin!, trans$ittin!,
ac?noled!in!, $odif*in! or e6tin!uishin! ri!hts ith respect to real estate not re!istered under the provisions of Act
Nu$bered 8our hundred and ninet*-si6, entitled @The +and Re!istration,@ and its a$end$ents, shall be valid, e6cept as
beteen the parties thereto, until such instru$ent or deed has been re!istered, in the manner hereinafter prescri"ed,
in the o3ce of the re!ister of deeds for the province or cit* here the real estate lies.@ BThere follos in the la the
re;uire$ents re!ardin! the boo?s hich it is the dut* of the re!ister of deeds to ?eep and use.C
:t results as a $atter of course since the deed $ade b* (abino Barreto P. Po E)ap in favor of .ose =. >ati!ba? as not
onl* not <rst recorded in the re!istr* of deeds but never le!all* so recorded, and since the purchaser ho did record
his deed as Price, ho secured a Torrens title and transferred the sa$e to the Province of +e*te, that Po 1un Tun, the
holder of a defeasible title, has no le!al ri!hts as a!ainst Price and the Province of +e*te, the holders of indefeasible
titles. Also, if necessar*, it could be ruled that ithin the $eanin! of section /, of the +and Re!istration +a, Price and
the Province of +e*te are innocent purchasers for value of the disputed propert*.
8indin! the )ud!$ent appealed fro$ to be correct fro$ all points of vie, it ill be a3r$ed, ith the costs of this
instance a!ainst the appellant.
Avance#a$ %.J.$ Johnson$ Street$ &strand$ Johns$ 'omualde( and Villa-'eal$ JJ.$ concur.